


The Language of Love

by stxrwxrs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Canon, DameRey, F/M, Finn is my favorite, Friends to Lovers, Jess is the ultimate bro and bff, Nicknames, Rey and Poe are in love, fluff and angst about everyone beings friends, how Poe and Jess met
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6503746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stxrwxrs/pseuds/stxrwxrs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are six Greek words for love-  Eros (passion), Philia (deep friendship), Ludus (playful), Agape (selfless), Pragma (longstanding) & Philautia (of the self). Poe Dameron knows each love personally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Language of Love

**Author's Note:**

> who needs update three other fics but rlly wanted to write this....meeeeee.....
> 
> CHARACTER BACKSTORIES BC THIS IN A BIT AU IN THAT
> 
> Poe- an orphan from a young age. Shara and Kes were both involved in the rebel alliance and after leaving to raise their son, were pulled right back into it and sacrificed their lives for the cause. Poe grew up in a ghost town of the rebellion, passed down from one friend of his parents to another. 
> 
> Jessika- another war orphan. Jess' father fought alongside rebel pilots but was killed shortly after the Battle of Endor, her mother died in childbirth. Jess was raised by her grandmother, who told her to find her father's allies to save her homeworld from a civil war shortly before her own death. 
> 
> And then Rey & Finn are the same ;) YAY THANKS FOR READING

###  **_Philia_ **

/deep friendship/

 

In the beginning they’re just two kids with a broken past and a sparkling future.  

He’s the rookie on the squadron, the newbie with a lucky aim. The child of war heroes, men and women around him either whisper in hushed tones or gaze in awe when he walks by. He’s hated or loved; judged or welcomed. The boy does great in all his simulator runs, executes everything exactly as his mother would have and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

His name is Poe Dameron and he’s young and bold.

 The boy grows up around the Solos, including their small son, Ben; the two are put together frequently, and they don’t complain all that much, yet still aren’t more than that.

Poe’s never confined to one legal guardian but often just the many adults running around an abandoned rebel alliance base. The love these people had for his parents is passed down onto him.

 Jessika Pava is his first friend. The young woman shows up one day and never leaves. She’s a petite, young, smartmouth that won’t let anyone take advantage of her. The girl looks at Poe like no one ever has, like an equal, a normal person. “You’re going to have to do more than have a famous last name to gain my respect,” Pava shrugs and Poe’s never grinned harder.

 The two are inseparable. Their rooms are next door in the pilot's wing, which leads to many evenings of late night talks that either leave them rolling on the floor or lost in thought. She’s the first friend that Poe has ever been able to call his own and she knows it.

 He’s legally allowed to drink on base three years before her and taunts her dramatically until she grabs a glass herself and proves that she’s not afraid of a little rebellion. That’s what they’ll fight for one day, anyway.

 Jessika’s first boyfriend is another pilot six years older than her and when he breaks her heart, Poe just about breaks his face. She cries in front of him for the first time and he runs a hand through her hair like he almosts remembers his mother doing for him.

 

“She’s my sister!” Poe exclaims one day when Nunb tries to accuse the pair of sleeping together.

They’re not related, but they both will claim to be, secretly wishing they were. Slowly, they morph into each other’s family.

 

“Hey Jess,” he slings around the corner one day to find her, “just so you know, I put you down as my emergency family member in case something goes wrong.”

Jessika laughs, “well if _you’re_ getting shot down, I’m probably already dead.”  

“It’s the thought that counts,” Poe grins.

“You’re mine too,” she shrugs in defeat.

 

They fight every other week, blow up arguments that usually have to be settled by Leia Organa, herself. She is Poe’s oracle, watching.

They’re both good pilots, him better than her and it drives the girl crazy. She spends an extra hour and half more than him in the simulator every day just to try and finally outrank him. She never can.

“Screw your genetics,” she hisses as he jumps down the ladder.

“Sure, blame it on that, Jess,” he laughs, “whatever helps you sleep at night.”

 Their first mission is a scouting one, Leia can feel the tides of war pulling at her mind and she knows they’ll need a backup base. Poe flies in a dingy, small, old X-Wing alongside Jessika, who complains about the piece of junk; but the young man can’t be more thrilled.

Both young adults live their lives alongside of each other, weeks turning into months as they grow older and closer. They watch each other take their first flight alone in X-Wings, watch as the pass their final simulator, as they finally become official pilots.

 

The war begins quietly a week after his thirty-second birthday. By now he’s been promoted to Black Leader, the commander of the Rapier Squadron, which means he’s above Jess.

“You’re not whining as much as I thought you’d be,” he looks at her intently as she shoves through her locker.

The girl stops and turns to him with a small shrug, “I trust you, Dameron. If there’s anyone I’m putting my life in the hands of, it’s you. Plus, blue is my favorite color.”

“Pava,” he shakes his head and chuckles.

 

 They still sit around in each other’s rooms at night, talking about the war or their homeworlds. One night, BB-8 rolls in unannounced and lets out a shrilled beep at the sight of Jessika sprawled on on Poe’s floor.

“Hey, it’s just Jess,” Poe pats the droid’s head but the machine shakes its head.

“Why doesn’t he like me?,” she blows hair out of her face, “you’re his owner, tell him to like me.”

The older man rolls his eyes, “I’m not his owner, I’m his friend. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

Jessika sits up to shoot the man a harsh glare before going back to their position on the floor.

 

 The two also still fight, not as much, but still enough to cause tension for a few hours. Normally it’s something Jess has done, but on occasion it’s Poe.

It’s an argument that separates the two of them the night before Poe is set to leave on a task the general has given to him personally. He won’t be back for a few weeks and Jessika knows it.

 “Jess,” Poe lightly taps his knuckles against her door early the next morning, “Jess, I’m sorry.” He’s met with complete silence, maybe she’s asleep or maybe she’s ignoring him. “I have to go, Jessika,” he sighs, “I’ll see you when I get back.”

 

The girl cries alone in her room three weeks later when he’s reported as captured.

 

_/interlude/_

 

Rey comes back to the base with Luke three months after she left. Nothing has changed, yet everything has.

 There is no one to greet her beyond the general and a small droid, which doesn’t phase her, she’s not expecting anyone. A group gathers to see her master, which she didn’t expect either. The brunette weaves out of the crowd as quick as possible and just about sprints to the medical ward to find her best friend.

That’s the only greeting she wants.

 He’s lying in a bed. “ _No changes_ ,” says a woman behind her, “ _should be getting better soon._ ” The words become blurs in the girl’s mind and she almost throws herself over his body in an act of desperation. It’s like drowning amidst a pocket of air, starved in a cornucopia, alive but only on a decaying heart.  

 Rey waits until the woman is gone before pulling a chair up to his bed and telling him everything. It’s an elegant picture she paints for his subconscious, a picture that is torn apart as soon as the heavy doors to the hospital slam shut.

“Oh,” the older man says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here.”

 He’s tall and broad with a soft face structure that makes something in her peak with curiosity. Rey tries to grasp his name on the tip of her tongue. They’ve met before, exchanging an awkward first impression a few days before she left. By the look in his eyes she can tell they both haven’t spared a thought of the other since that day.

“Rey, right?” He takes a few steps forward.

The brunette nods, “I-” she stumbles, fidgeting with her hands as a thick wave of anxiety comes over her.

“Poe,” he warmly smiles and the atmosphere almost changes instantly, “you just came back with Skywalker.”

“Yes,” Rey squeezes Finn’s hand, “I wanted to come see if anything had changed.”

 The older man grabs a chair and pulls it up across from her, “do you mind?” He politely asks and she shakes her head. “He’s been under a close watch, they think he’ll pull through any day now,” Rey runs her thumb over the unconscious man’s rough, calloused knuckles.

“You two were close?” She asks curiously.

“He saved my life,” Poe nods.

Rey faintly smiles, “mine too.”

 Poe’s gaze now flickers to her and he fully takes her in the first time, intrigued by her comment. Her curled bangs fall down her tan cheeks, brunette hair loosely thrown into her signature buns behind her head, her eyes are brown, speckled with glimpses of the sun. The man sits up a little taller and bites his lip.

“Tell me about it,” he breathes.

 

 They spend the rest of the day sitting on chairs across from each other. Rey tells him about a planet made of sand and greed, a small woman with a spirit larger than life, a lightsaber passed down from father to son, and a war hero whose stories are still distantly heard through the wind.

Poe listens closely, reacting in exactly that right places. “Wow,” he murmurs as she finishes, “that’s something incredible, Rey.”

The brunette nods, her eyes reflecting a place much farther away, “Finn was there for all of it.”

“Hey,” Poe reaches over the bed to put a hand over hers, “he’ll be okay, don’t worry about it, sunshine.”

 The nickname makes something deep down in Rey bloom like light pushing through heavy clouds. A faint blush anoints her cheeks and she softly smiles at him, which is happily returns. It’s the start of a friendship that extends deeply.

 

_/prelude/_

 

 The moment Poe steps back into the hanger, well, stumbles into the hanger, Jessika freezes. Snap grabs the man by the shoulders and looks him over before pulling him into a big bear hug and a crowd begins to gather, pilots from all ranks running to greet the man who had just about been deemed as dead.

 Jessika’s feet start moving before her brain fully does, she runs and shoves everyone out of her way until she gets to the middle of the circle and it’s just her and Poe. It’s moments like these they might as well see each other as their own blood.

“Poe!” The small pilot yells and throws her arms around his neck without hesitation, letting him pick her up and spin her around in a fierce embrace.

 The man laughs, yet the sound is a broken one, not full of the mirth and joy it once had. Poe tightens his grip around his best friend as he’s led to the medbay for a checkup. Jessika doesn’t leave his side, an arm around him as they walk.  

She waits outside the room as they finish up testing him. The general herself comes out of the room with a stricken expression, shaking her head with a hand over her thin lips.

“Is he okay?” Jessika jumps to her feet.

 Leia sighs and nods, her gaze slowly wandering to the pilot beside her, “Poe will be fine. It will be quite a healing process for him, though.” The older woman turns to see Snap, Nien, and others pouring into the waiting room with concern written all over their faces. “He is going to need his entire squadron to be watching out for him,” she smiles softly.

Jessika nods quickly, “yes ma’am, of course.”

“Go see him, Pava,” the general smiles and Jess doesn’t hesitate, nodding in respect before running through the doors.

Poe is sitting upright on a bed, rubbing his arm with an annoyed expression. A droid hovers over him but the pilot waves him away, rolling his eyes every time he’s told to do something.

“So I hear you’ve been playing with a few new toys,” the girl grins at the smile that breaks out on Poe’s face when he sees her.

“Jess, you would not believe what it’s like flying in the cockpit of those scrap buckets,” the man shakes his head and stands up to greet her.

 Jessika laughs and shakes her head, “you’ve have quite the adventure.” Poe begins to say something else but instead winces in pain and the air becomes tense. “Are you okay?” The young girl bites her lip.

“I’ve been a little better,” he shrugs and the medical droid comes up behind him, to which he flatly ignores.  
“Hey,” she stumbles, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have fought with you before you left,” her tone turns somber and he reassuringly puts a hand on her arm.

“Pava,” he’s gentle, “it’s alright. I kinda stopped being mad at you after I was y’know, face to face with the First Order’s poster boy, too much going on there.”

Jess awkwardly laughs and pulls him into an embrace again but it’s cut short by Snap storming into the room.  
 “Dameron, Pava, glad to see you’re feelin’ better but we have a situation on Takodana,” the man looks from one pilot to the other and Poe can’t wipe the grin off his face as he runs out of the room against the medical droid’s wishes.

Jessika is his best friend.

 

_/present/_

 

 Jessika teaches Rey to dance. _Really_ dance.

 It’s in Jess’ room one night in which they’re up late talking, a new habit of theirs, that the pilot brings up the idea of a dance club added to the base.

“A what?” Rey furrows her brow and Jessika shakes her head.

“Your village on Jakku must’ve been the miserable and boring place in the galaxy.”

 Without hesitation, Jessika pulls out her holopad and searches diligently for something Rey can’t determine, but she still curiously watches. In less than a minute the pilot has quick, techno music coming from the device and she bobs her head to the beat.

“This is music?” Rey bites her lip.

“Follow me!” Jessika grins and begins moving around the room loosely, in ways Rey’s never seen before.

The scavenger laughs nervously, “what are you doing?”

“I’m dancing!” The pilot spins around and pumps her arms in a circle, smiling as she does.        “C’mon you’re young, have a little fun,”” Jessika pulls Rey up by the arm and twirls her around, not letting go of her as she tries to show her how to move.

 Rey’s movements are more than awkward, her arms slowly whipping around her body and her legs just about tripping over each other. Jessika has to stop herself from laughing, but smiles when Rey starts to enjoy herself.

 The scavenger tries to move to the beat, but a lack of self confidence tugs hard on her and she’s nervous again. Jessika notices her timid movements and begins teaching her a new style of dance, which makes them both laugh.

Just as Rey begins to warm up again, a loud knock at the door makes them both jump and Jessika quickly skips over to the door.

Poe Dameron already has a mocking smirk on his face as the door slides open, revealing Jess, who has not stopped dancing despite the newcomer.

“Yes?” The younger pilot sways.

“Having a good time?” Poe raises an eyebrow.

 Rey freezes up as soon as she sees the commander at the door, a wave of heat suddenly coming across her cheeks. It’s been happening every time Poe interacts with her and the girl can’t figure out why.

“Yeah, I’m teaching Rey how to dance,” Jessika scoffs.

 Poe can almost feel his mouth go dry at the quick mental image, “Rey’s here?” He tries to subtly look into the room to catch a glimpse of the young jedi.

Jessika slyly grins at the man and gestures to the room, “yes she is, you wanna come join us? You’re quite the dancer yourself, Commander.”

The scavenger quietly walks up to the two pilots and sheepishly smiles when she makes eye-contact with Poe.

 “I think I should just leave you two to your girl’s night,” he laughs, his gaze lingering on the younger brunette, “but you have gotten a few noise complaints so take care of that, Pava.” Jessika shrugs innocently.  

“Alright, Dameron, will do,” she twirls her fingers in mock guns.

Poe nods, “thank you and go to sleep, you’ve got an early morning flight tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Poe,” Jess rolls her eyes.  
“‘Night Jess, ‘night sunshine,” he winks at Rey and it leaves her with a furious blush. Jessika slaps him on the arm and pushes him out of the doorway.

 The two girls can’t help but laugh after the door closes and their friend is gone. “Rey,” Jess shakes her head while giggling, “he is so in love with you. I give it like a few more days.”

“Oh, shut up, we’re just friends,” Rey swats her friend away.

“You know it’s true,” the pilot teases and turns the music up louder, “hey, stop thinking and dance!”

Rey gets the hang of it around half an hour later.

Jessika and Rey are quickly becoming best friends, both excited to finally have someone to engage in girl talk with.

 

**Philautia**

_/love of the self/_

 

“Everyone wants to sleep with me,” Poe drunkenly nods as he takes another drink from his bottle, “but I mean, who wouldn’t?”

“I hate you,” Jessika puts her own bottle to her lips with a roll of her eyes.

They're best friends. 

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!! If you enjoyed this please feel free to check out a few of my other Damerey stories:  
> Sense & Serendipity: a regency AU  
> Stationary Hearts: a modern subway AU  
> Moments: a modern AU in which Poe, Rey, and Finn are roommates  
> Love is a Losing Game: a noir Au  
> HAVE A GREAT DAY :)


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